Sari al-Saqati

Abū al-Ḥasan Sarī al-Saqati (c. 777 – 8 September 867) was one of the early Muslim Sufi saints of Baghdad. He was one of the most influential students of Ma'ruf al-Karkhi and one of the first to present Sufism in a systematic way. He was also a friend of Bishr the Barefoot and he was the maternal uncle and spiritual master of Junaid Baghdadi.

The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam
Muhammad Riaz Qadiri: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam, Gujranwala, Pakistan, 2004


 * The genuine mystic dwells in the state of unity.
 * p. 43


 * The worst punishment from God is the separation from Him.
 * p. 43


 * O God! Whatever punishment you inflict upon me, do not punish me with the humiliation of being veiled from Thee.
 * p. 43


 * In his youth he would say: "One should worship Him in his youth."
 * p. 43


 * One should avoid rich neighbour, rich savant, and Quran reader on payment.
 * p. 43


 * The entire world is worthless excepting five things: to eat for survival, to take water in order to slake thirst, clothes to cover body, house to dwell in, knowledge just to act upon.
 * p. 43
 * Sinning upto necessity might be pardonable but for self-conceit and pride it is unpardonable since sin of Adam was the accomplishment of desire and sin of Satan self-conceit.
 * p. 43
 * He who cannot bridle his own lower soul, how can he purify the same of others.
 * p. 43
 * Every nearest to Divine presence is given spiritual acumen in proportion to his proximity to Divine sanctuary.
 * p. 43
 * He who meditates into the mysteries of the Holy Quran is sagacious in true sense.
 * p. 43
 * Gnostic has an elevated spiritual rank. He eats less, sleeps less and repose less. He is like shinning moon who radiates others and bears the burden of everything on earth, shows right path like light and saturates the heart like water giving it new life.
 * p. 43
 * Gnostic gets peace after annihilation in Him.
 * p. 43
 * To meet people with hypocrisy separates one from God.
 * p. 43